03-24-14 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION March 3, 2014 DRAFT 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES 2 MINUTES 3 4 DATE : March 3, 2014 5 TIME STARTED : 5:30 p.m. 6 TIME ENDED : 9:40 p.m. 7 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Member Stoesz, Kusterman, 8 Rafferty, Roeser and Mayor Reinert 9 MEMBERS ABSENT : None 10 11 12 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Community Development 13 Director Michael Grochala; City Planner Katie Larsen; Public Services Director Rick 14 DeGardner; Finance Director Al Rolek; City Engineer Jason Wedel; City Clerk Julie 15 Bartell 16 17 1. County Road 14 Landscaping Project — Public Services Director DeGardner 18 distributed landscaping plans for the median on County Road 14, east of 35E. The area 19 has been of concern for several years and Anoka County has now approved these plans 20 for improvements. He also distributed and reviewed cost projections, noting that he 21 would plan for the bulk of the work to be done in -house (by city personnel) and funded 22 through the city's Street Maintenance Fund. Looking ahead, the city would be 23 responsible for maintenance of the landscaped area. 24 25 The council reviewed the plans and concurred to proceed as recommended by Mr. 26 DeGardner with the understanding that a budget action relative to the project will follow 27 in the future. 28 29 2. Wireless Communications Update — Public Services Director DeGardner 30 distributed and reviewed information summarizing the results of an RFP process for sale 31 of the city's wireless leases. He reviewed the responders and results noting that all are for 32 a 50 -year term. Assuming a purchase price in the range indicated he is interested in 33 knowing if the council is interested in looking further at this type of sale. There isn't a 34 clear time constraint on the decision but the possibility exists of the city losing additional 35 contracts to mergers (Sprint and T- Mobile discussions are reportedly occurring). A 36 merger would leave the city with less value to sell so the prices would go down 37 significantly. The other unknown is the future of this technology; will the same leases 38 remain in place for many years to come? The council discussed with staff how new 39 leases or future city needs would fit into a sale. If the city is interested in a sale, he would 40 proceed to spend time with the city attorney working further on details such as purchase 41 terms. Mayor Reinert asked if there is any information on what other cities are doing 42 with their leases and Mr. DeGardner explained that the majority of cities seem to be 43 sticking with what they have but some have moved toward sales. 44